“I don’t know, but we need to find out.”
“I texted Gibson and let him know you were talking to her and I was trying to get a trace. He’s waiting to hear from us.”
In my desperate need to get here and have Tucker trace the number, I hadn’t even thought to call up the sheriff. So, I do that now.
“Tucker get a lock on her?” he asks after answering on the first ring. Likely because he was staring at his phone, waiting for a call. Emma is family to everyone here, and everyone wants her home.
“No. They’re bouncing it all over the place via Wi-Fi. Or something like that. Tucker can give you the specifics. She did try to give me a hint, though. Said that if she could swim, the place she’s being held would be paradise.”
“Tropical locations, then?”
“That would be a good place to start. Have you looked into flight records?”
“Yes. One private plane left yesterday, but it was a fake flight log. I’m still trying to find out where it really went.”
“Okay. She did say she’s not in Texas. Or, at least, she didn’t think she was.”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I imagine he’s likely writing down what I’m telling him. “Anything else?”
“A man came on the phone as well, claiming to be her birth father. He said that his son got overzealous in his desire to have his sister home.”
“The drugs.”
“No normal person drugs someone—overzealous or not.”
“I agree. I’ve been trying to get my hands on her adoption records, so I’ll apply some more pressure now that we have confirmation she’s with them.”
“Thanks. Tucker is still trying to trace the number, but I’ll text it to you too so you have it.”
“Great, thanks.”
“Yeah.” After ending the call, I fire off a text to Gibson with the image I took of my mom’s caller ID, then shove my phone back into my pocket.
Tucker’s still heavily focused on the screen before him. Even though I have no idea what he’s doing to track down the number, the furrowed line of his brow is enough evidence that he’s not finding what he wants.
And then—“Okay, I’ve got it narrowed down to the Northwest Hemisphere.”
“That’s the closest you can get?”
“That’s it. I’m sorry, brother. If we can get her on the phone again, then maybe I can narrow it down further.”
I withdraw my phone and type in the number.
But it comes back disconnected.
“They shut it down.”
“Of course they did.” Tucker groans.
“There’s nothing else you can do?”
“’Fraid not, brother. But I’ll keep an eye on it.”
“Gibson said he’s trying to get his hands on Emma’s adoption records.”
“Adoption records!” Tucker snaps. “Why didn’t I think about that before?”
“Think about what?” Alice asks as she breezes into the office and comes to stand behind Tucker. She rests both hands on his shoulders and leans in. “Adoption records?”
